Apple's Stock Price Drops 4.8% Wiping out $130 Bln in Market Value

Despite Apple's largely expected earnings report last Thursday, investors quickly fled the stock, which fell by more than 4.8% at market close on Friday to $182.

The move wiped out more than $130 billion in market value. Apple lost its unique valuation, which exceeded $3 trillion, for the first time since last June, but it remains the most valuable company in the world.

It seems that funds and individuals realize that the most valuable American project, and the stock that rose before the new recession by 50% in 2023, is very dangerously overvalued. As the new figures highlight that the strongest company, which was trading at a premium paid by the catalyst for future rapid growth, is now at best achieving near-zero growth, according to Fortune magazine.

It revised Apple's revenue by 1.4% to $81.8 billion in the year that began in June 2022. The culprit was hardware sales. iPhone revenue was 2% lower than last year's levels. Better-than-expected growth in services, including iCloud, Music, and Apple TV+, wasn't enough to offset device sales.

CEO Tim Cook noted that iPhone sales, which now account for half of all Apple's revenue, will continue to decline, while noting strength in India and other emerging markets, warning that "the smartphone market is challenging in the US right now."

The only way for Apple to rebrand itself as a growth engine on Wall Street is to grow services so aggressively that the sector's march forward outweighs the decline in its core franchises. But the services sector still accounts for only a quarter of Apple's total revenue. The pace at which this sector would have to grow to justify a market cap still close to $3 trillion, and maintain its lead, seems mathematically questionable.